Young Bulldogs Raring to Start the 2010-2011 Season

Claire Dennis and Heather May. (Photo by Lincoln Benedict)

Sep 09, 2010

Bulldogs Extra Motivated for This Season

NEW HAVEN, Conn.- To say that the 2009-2010
Yale women's sailing season ended painfully would be an
understatement. With no wind in Wisconsin for two straight
heartbreaking days, the Bulldogs were never able to take to the
water of Lake Mendota to prove that their sixth-place finish at the
New England Championships, which only qualified them for the
semifinals, was just a fluke. While some hard feelings still
reside in the hearts of the Bulldogs, rather than returning to
that difficult end to 2009-2010, they are looking forward to
an excellent season in which their time in the badger state will
fade.

With the loss of skipper Sarah Lihan '10, the Bulldogs will have
large shoes to fill. Their tall leader provided a guiding hand to
the youngsters that made up the rest of the team last year. Without
Lihan's guidance the Bulldogs will have to mature into experienced
college sailors and leaders in a very short time. Although the
majority of the experienced team is composed of sophomores and
juniors, their experiences last year will allow them to step up to
the plate and swing for the fences even though their clean-up
hitter has graduated.

In the preseason poll just released, the Bulldogs are ranked
9th, only a few votes behind No. 7 Tufts and No. 8
Georgetown. While other teams such as No. 1 Boston College and No.
2 Brown have more experienced college competitors, the Bulldogs
will return a great core from last year, as well as adding some
incredible additions with the Class of 2014.

Sophomores Claire Dennis and
Heather May
will anchor the team. Being the top team at regattas is not a new
spot for Dennis and May as during the spring 2010 season they often
sailed in the top division when Lihan and senior Elizabeth Brim
were team racing with the co-eds. This year, Dennis, the NEISA
Rookie of the Year in 2009-2010, and May will surely use their
experience last spring as they move up a division permanently.
Although young, Dennis and May hope to build on their great
finishes from last year and fully secure themselves as one of the
top women's teams in A division this season. Dennis, who finished
second at the Women's Singlehanded Nationals in 2009, will also
look to have another successful campaign in the Laser Radial.

Also returning for the Bulldogs are juniors Genoa Warner and
Stephanie
Schuyler, a duo who found a lot of success in B division at
major regattas last year. Warner and Schuyler are considered light
air specialists due to their low weight.

The other mainstay skipper from last year's team, sophomore Emily
Billing, will be without junior crew Margot Benedict
for the fall season as she is studying abroad in Germany, but
Billing looks to build on superb performances both in doublehanded
and singlehanded racing in the fall and will be reunited with
Benedict in the spring.

Two of the seniors on the team, captain Blair Belling and
Elizabeth Brim, have seen a lot of national championship experience
and will also provide guidance to the younger members even though
they will primarily be sailing co-ed events. Both extremely
experienced sailors, they will serve as excellent role models as
well as teachers.

New additions to the Bulldogs include Eugenia
Custo Greig, Marlena
Fauer, Amanda
Salvesen, Maddy
Yozwiak and Anna Han. Fauer was named to the 2010 US
Development Team as a skipper in the 420 class while Salvesen was
part of the 2008 National High School Doublehanded Championship
team as a crew for junior Joseph Morris. All of the new additions
to the team will be important contributors to a team who lost a
core group of talented sailors to graduation in 2010. The team will
also expand as walk-ons join the team throughout the fall.

Although young, the Bulldogs have both the drive and the spirit
required of a top-notch team to put them in contention for the
National Championship in 2011 at the Columbia River Gorge in
Oregon. While seen by many as underdogs, the Bulldogs will not go
out without fight, as they fully embrace the personality of their
mascot.